00:00We're currently in the midst of an international break
00:03which is coming to an end.
00:04Domestic football will return this weekend
00:08with Rangers hosting Hart at home
00:10and Celtic facing Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Sunday.
00:17However, there's been a couple bits of important news
00:20that we must get into over the course
00:23of the international break.
00:25Celtic releasing a statement,
00:27a wide-ranging statement on Friday,
00:33on Saturday evening I should say,
00:35defending their lack of summer transfer business
00:38in the face of intense criticism from supporters.
00:42They claimed that throwing money around
00:45is not a sustainable route to success.
00:49They also referred to UEFA's financial regulations
00:55which I'm not too sure has a great deal to do
00:58with the actual current financial situation, Ben.
01:03But can you just give us a kind of overview
01:06as to why this statement has perhaps maybe...
01:10This statement was released to try and appease supporters
01:14given the recent disgruntlements on the back of the transfer window.
01:17But it seems to have only made things worse.
01:20You know, the classical PR strategy,
01:23if you want to calm down some raging fans,
01:24send out a statement at half nine at night,
01:26that'll really grab all of their attention,
01:28you know, just try and sneak it out the back door.
01:31Yeah, I don't think really a lot needs said
01:34about the overall reaction to it,
01:35other than pretty much most major Celtic fan groups
01:39who were involved in these highlighted discussions
01:42where Celtic have all came out and said
01:44that they weren't best pleased with what was said in it
01:47and various motions of no confidence have been launched in it.
01:51I think the club had to say something
01:54because you can't ignore last week,
01:57I think obviously the Green Brigade's
01:59probably the most vocal online presence,
02:01but fan groups representing tens of thousands of Celtic fans
02:06all signed a letter demanding answers.
02:08And I think if you go down the questions
02:11that they groups had asked,
02:12not one of them's really answered.
02:13The full statement just screams of,
02:16you know, blame everybody apart from us.
02:19It doesn't take any accountability.
02:21I don't think, I think fans can accept mistakes or failings
02:25if basically they came out and said,
02:28look, we got some of this wrong,
02:29this is where we're going to look to improve and move on.
02:32Like you could do that in a few hundred words,
02:34just coming out with this sort of blame the media,
02:37blame social media,
02:38blame Rangers.
02:41I mean, there's a very subtle Rangers dig thrown in there,
02:44you know, about throwing money about
02:45and how people at other clubs have found out
02:48that that doesn't work to their detriment.
02:50You know, I mean, that might appeal
02:51to a certain element of the fan base,
02:53but to me it just seemed like a little ghastly
02:54in large sections of the Celtic fans.
02:57I do think a lot of the commentary on sort of
03:00maybe downplayed the intelligence of the Celtic fans.
03:03It seems as if they just thought
03:05they would see the statement move on until January.
03:09I think fans are beyond that now.
03:10I think fans want answers.
03:12I think particularly from what I've seen of Michael Nicholson,
03:15he's not been a very vocal CEO.
03:18They obviously don't hear a lot from Dermot Desmond,
03:21but Michael Nicholson's kind of,
03:22your CEO kind of needs to be the face of the club.
03:25You've seen, you know, Malky McKay at Hibs,
03:28Kevin Thelwell at Rangers,
03:30Brian Caldwell at Mullow.
03:31They've all done things in the last couple of weeks
03:34ascertaining to their windows
03:36and, you know, how clubs are being sort of run at the minute
03:40and answering hard questions.
03:42So you don't see any of that from Celtic.
03:44You didn't see anything like that from that statement.
03:46There's no name attached to it either.
03:48There were leaks earlier in the day
03:49in other publications.
03:51Very clearly somebody inside Celtic
03:53briefing against Brendan Rodgers.
03:56So the full thing's very messy.
03:59And even though I think they did have to say something
04:01in saying what they did,
04:04they've actually made the situation far worse.
04:07Yeah.
04:07And obviously this could potentially have a knock on effect.
04:11You know,
04:12obviously no supporters are at kind of breaking point
04:15at this moment in time with the current hierarchy.
04:18However, there's already kind of murmurs
04:21that there's talks that there could be potential boycotts
04:25going forward in, you know, League Cup games
04:28and even potentially in the Europa League.
04:31I guess it stems,
04:34it also stems from the fact that,
04:36as you mentioned,
04:36there's been absolutely no accountability
04:38has been taken.
04:39Yeah,
04:41I think that's the thing as well.
04:43There's no,
04:43there's no leadership from those
04:45you need leadership from.
04:47And when we get to Thursday,
04:48Friday ahead of the Comarnock game,
04:50we'll be Brendan Rodgers answering these questions
04:51and he's not the guy to answer them.
04:53You know,
04:53you can't ask Brendan Rodgers
04:55why didn't you get the money you wanted.
04:59He can only say so much.
05:01He can't answer why Dermot Desmond
05:03or whoever at Celtic is needed to loosen the purse rings
05:05didn't do that.
05:06but so I do feel for him in a wee bit.
05:09It does seem more and more likely
05:11with his contract expiring at the end of the season.
05:13That's kind of where the,
05:14certainly the narrative seems to be suggesting
05:16that he's heading for the exit.
05:20But I don't think,
05:21I think even if Celtic win,
05:23you know,
05:24domestic dominance again this season,
05:25it's kind of moved beyond that.
05:26You'll see a lot of people with Celtic
05:28who will maybe say,
05:30you know,
05:30why are they complaining?
05:32They win everything every year.
05:33They've got the best players,
05:34the best team still by a country mile.
05:35But I think the frustration is that Celtic
05:38could have made Scottish football a monopoly
05:40in the last four or five years.
05:42And despite the fact they've won trebles,
05:44they've won doubles,
05:45Celtic,
05:46even with Rangers,
05:47they are still ahead of Rangers,
05:48but Celtic could have been
05:50on an island on their own
05:51where nobody could ever catch them.
05:54And they could send out the B team
05:56pretty much every week
05:57and win comfortably domestically
06:00and then save their proper superstars
06:02for the Champions League.
06:03I think there's almost a resentment
06:05towards they've not done that.
06:07They have kind of stood still
06:08and in standing still,
06:10well,
06:10they are still ahead.
06:11They have still won a lot of trophy.
06:13It's been a period of success for the club.
06:15They could have been,
06:17it could have been so much better,
06:18which is mad to say,
06:19considering this is a team
06:20that's won
06:20invincible trebles
06:22under this current manager
06:23in his first spell.
06:24But it could have just been,
06:29they could own Scottish football essentially
06:31and now they're in a position
06:32where Rangers have got new investment
06:34and not only are they not
06:35pressing the head in Europe,
06:36they've left the door open
06:37for Rangers and Hearts potentially
06:39if Tony Bloom,
06:40you know,
06:41follows the path of success
06:42he's had at Brighton and Belgium.
06:46They've left the door open
06:47for, you know,
06:47five, ten years down the line
06:49for there to be a third force
06:50in Scottish football
06:50when they could have just
06:51shut the full thing off.
06:52We'll see you next time.
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